{"title":"脆弱性:对加拿大安大略省 COVID-19 大流行期间个人支持工作者工作经历的解释性描述研究。","authors":"Upasana Panda, Monique Lanoix, Rebecca Gewurtz, Sandra Moll, Evelyne Durocher","doi":"10.3390/healthcare12232474","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background/objectives: </strong>Personal support workers (PSWs) are important healthcare workers providing essential services to thousands of Canadians. PSWs face many challenges that were exacerbated in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study we explore experiences of PSWs working through the pandemic in Ontario long-term care (LTC) homes by focusing on the vulnerability of such workers.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An interpretive description approach was adopted. Eleven PSWs working in LTC homes in an urban center in Ontario participated in semi-structured interviews between January and May 2022. Thematic analysis of the transcripts was informed by concepts of vulnerability.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results suggest that PSWs experienced inherent, situational, and pathogenic vulnerability. Inherent vulnerability was experienced in relation to risks of contracting the coronavirus working in person with residents, and of experiencing physical and psychological distress in relation to challenging interactions with staff, residents and their superiors. Situational vulnerability was experienced in relation to demanding workloads, which were intensified in the context of the pandemic. Participants expressed feeling undervalued, unappreciated, and disrespected, reflecting experiences of pathogenic vulnerability. The narratives shared by PSWs highlighted how the COVID-19 pandemic added new, and magnified pre-existing, challenges and vulnerability, affecting their health and well-being.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Understanding risks faced by PSWs in LTC settings is crucial for developing targeted interventions and policies to support PSWs' health and well-being, mitigate factors that contribute to their vulnerability and promote the long-term sustainability of this caregiving workforce, ultimately enhancing the quality of care provided to residents in LTC facilities.</p>","PeriodicalId":12977,"journal":{"name":"Healthcare","volume":"12 23","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Vulnerability: An Interpretive Descriptive Study of Personal Support Workers' Experiences of Working During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ontario, Canada.\",\"authors\":\"Upasana Panda, Monique Lanoix, Rebecca Gewurtz, Sandra Moll, Evelyne Durocher\",\"doi\":\"10.3390/healthcare12232474\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><strong>Background/objectives: </strong>Personal support workers (PSWs) are important healthcare workers providing essential services to thousands of Canadians. PSWs face many challenges that were exacerbated in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study we explore experiences of PSWs working through the pandemic in Ontario long-term care (LTC) homes by focusing on the vulnerability of such workers.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An interpretive description approach was adopted. Eleven PSWs working in LTC homes in an urban center in Ontario participated in semi-structured interviews between January and May 2022. Thematic analysis of the transcripts was informed by concepts of vulnerability.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results suggest that PSWs experienced inherent, situational, and pathogenic vulnerability. Inherent vulnerability was experienced in relation to risks of contracting the coronavirus working in person with residents, and of experiencing physical and psychological distress in relation to challenging interactions with staff, residents and their superiors. Situational vulnerability was experienced in relation to demanding workloads, which were intensified in the context of the pandemic. Participants expressed feeling undervalued, unappreciated, and disrespected, reflecting experiences of pathogenic vulnerability. The narratives shared by PSWs highlighted how the COVID-19 pandemic added new, and magnified pre-existing, challenges and vulnerability, affecting their health and well-being.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Understanding risks faced by PSWs in LTC settings is crucial for developing targeted interventions and policies to support PSWs' health and well-being, mitigate factors that contribute to their vulnerability and promote the long-term sustainability of this caregiving workforce, ultimately enhancing the quality of care provided to residents in LTC facilities.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":12977,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Healthcare\",\"volume\":\"12 23\",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.4000,\"publicationDate\":\"2024-12-06\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Healthcare\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12232474\",\"RegionNum\":4,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Healthcare","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12232474","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Vulnerability: An Interpretive Descriptive Study of Personal Support Workers' Experiences of Working During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ontario, Canada.
Background/objectives: Personal support workers (PSWs) are important healthcare workers providing essential services to thousands of Canadians. PSWs face many challenges that were exacerbated in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study we explore experiences of PSWs working through the pandemic in Ontario long-term care (LTC) homes by focusing on the vulnerability of such workers.
Methods: An interpretive description approach was adopted. Eleven PSWs working in LTC homes in an urban center in Ontario participated in semi-structured interviews between January and May 2022. Thematic analysis of the transcripts was informed by concepts of vulnerability.
Results: The results suggest that PSWs experienced inherent, situational, and pathogenic vulnerability. Inherent vulnerability was experienced in relation to risks of contracting the coronavirus working in person with residents, and of experiencing physical and psychological distress in relation to challenging interactions with staff, residents and their superiors. Situational vulnerability was experienced in relation to demanding workloads, which were intensified in the context of the pandemic. Participants expressed feeling undervalued, unappreciated, and disrespected, reflecting experiences of pathogenic vulnerability. The narratives shared by PSWs highlighted how the COVID-19 pandemic added new, and magnified pre-existing, challenges and vulnerability, affecting their health and well-being.
Conclusions: Understanding risks faced by PSWs in LTC settings is crucial for developing targeted interventions and policies to support PSWs' health and well-being, mitigate factors that contribute to their vulnerability and promote the long-term sustainability of this caregiving workforce, ultimately enhancing the quality of care provided to residents in LTC facilities.
期刊介绍:
Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032) is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal (free for readers), which publishes original theoretical and empirical work in the interdisciplinary area of all aspects of medicine and health care research. Healthcare publishes Original Research Articles, Reviews, Case Reports, Research Notes and Short Communications. We encourage researchers to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. For theoretical papers, full details of proofs must be provided so that the results can be checked; for experimental papers, full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. Additionally, electronic files or software regarding the full details of the calculations, experimental procedure, etc., can be deposited along with the publication as “Supplementary Material”.